Trade Pitch Sees Red Wings Acquire Top-Four Defenseman

If the Detroit Red Wings hope to make the playoffs this season, they will need to shore up their defense. A recent ranking by The Athletic placed Detroit near the bottom of defensive depth — 27th out of 32 possible teams. General manager Steve Yzerman has his work cut out for him this offseason.

But could a trade be found in the form of an old rival?

Heavy.com proposed a deal that would see the Chicago Blackhawks deal defenseman Connor Murphy to the Red Wings in exchange for a draft pick:

Red Wings Acquire: 

Connor Murphy

Blackhawks Acquire:

2026 2nd round pick

The Blackhawks are deep within the throes of a rebuild. Several of their defensive prospects, including Artem Levshunov and Sam Rinzel, are ready to fight for a full-time roster spot this season. This move is a win-win for both parties: the Blackhawks obtain a strong draft pick, while the Red Wings shore up their defense.

Murphy, 32, enters the last year of his contract making a solid $4.4M per year. He’s anchored Chicago’s second defensive pairing for the last eight seasons. Known for his versatility and puck mobility, Murphy is a tried-and-true veteran defender that would certainly help to improve Detroit’s 3.16 goals against per-game.

Red Wings Searching for Top-Four Defenseman

General manager Stever Yzerman has been targeting a top-four defenseman for quite some time. “We have plenty of cap space to do a lot of different things,” Yzerman said in Detroit’s post-free agency press conference, “The most important thing is to find players that fit. What we could use right now is a [top four] defenseman…But it doesn’t have to be a right shot because we can move these guys around a little bit, but that would be our biggest potential need.”

Murphy is a right-shot defenseman. The other right-shot defensemen on the Red Wings include Moritz Seider, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Justin Holl. Yzerman mentioned that a defenseman doesn’t have to be a right-shot defenseman. With that said, improving right-shot depth would do wonders for the roster’s flexibility.

Draft Capital Gives Red Wings, Blackhawks Flexibility

To top it all off, the Red Wings have plenty of draft picks (and prospects) at their disposal. With so much to give and so many trade candidates up for grabs, this is a buyer’s market for Yzerman and the Red Wings.

The Red Wings have all of their draft picks for the 2026 NHL Draft (along with an additional seventh round pick acquired from the Calgary Flames). Two seasons ago, the Red Wings were just one point away from the playoffs. This season, they hope to break their nine-year playoff drought in order to bring their core to the postseason.

The Chicago Blackhawks, on the other hand, are preaching patience. “This is the process that we’re running,” Davidson said regarding Chicago’s prospect development. “When we set out to build this thing back up, we needed to build through the draft and find our new core. That takes time. The players have to mature and develop. We’re seeing those steps taking place. It may not, especially this year, result in more wins at the NHL level. But we’re seeing it happen underneath the surface.”

Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.

This article was originally published on Heavy Sports

The post Trade Pitch Sees Red Wings Acquire Top-Four Defenseman appeared first on Heavy Sports.